The invention relates to occupant restraint systems for use in automotive vehicles, for example, in road vehicles. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for selecting the level of a deflector for a shoulder belt or strap of an occupant restraint system.
Published German patent application No. 37 13 137 discloses an apparatus wherein a slide is movable up or down in a substantially vertical rail and carries a pivotably mounted level which can be moved to a position of engagement with or disengagement from the rail. The pivot member for the lever carries a deflector for a shoulder belt. A spring is provided to permanently bias the lever away from engagement with the rail. One end of the shoulder belt is connected to the rotary spool or reel of a standard retractor, and the other end of the shoulder belt carries a customary tongue which can be inserted into a buckle after the belt has been caused to overlie the chest of the occupant of the respective seat in a motor vehicle. When the shoulder belt is subjected to a pull, the lever on the slide is caused to move downwardly and is pivoted relative to the slide so that its tooth enters one of a row of slots in the rail. The rail is affixed to the so-called B-column of the frame of the motor vehicle. A bowden wire is used to change the level of the slide in the track which is defined by the rail, and the adjustment of the level of the slide by way of the bowden wire takes place in automatic response to forward or rearward adjustment of the respective seat in the motor vehicle. The bowden wire can be withdrawn against the resistance of a spring. A force which acts upon the shoulder belt to extract a length of the belt from the retractor must overcome the bias of the spring which acts upon the bowden wire, as well as the resistance of the spring which acts upon the lever, in order to ensure that the projection of the lever will enter a slot of the rail. The apparatus which is disclosed in the German patent application is rather complex and expensive.